MOBILE, Ala. — A pair of accused drug dealers pleaded not guilty in Mobile last week to updated federal charges that could land them in prison for the rest of their lives.

Bruce Edward McDonald, 47, of Mount Vernon, and Timothy Wayne Seabury, 42, of Saraland, are scheduled to go on trial Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Because of prior drug convictions, both would face life in prison without parole under advisory guidelines, if convicted of the most serious offense.

The indictment alleges that McDonald and Seabury conspired to sell almost half a kilogram of crack cocaine in July 2007. Authorities peg the amount at 454.3 grams, an amount high enough to trigger a mandatory-minimum prison term of 10 years.

In addition, McDonald stands accused of possession with intent to distribute 39.06 grams of methamphetamine, 300 grams of marijuana and pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in the manufacture of meth. Those charges stem from a bust made May 22 by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office at McDonald’s home on Red Fox Road.

Also taken during that bust were two handguns, a Hi-Point .40-caliber and a 9mm, which prosecutors alleged were used during a drug trafficking crime.

“I can’t tell you which way it will go until I get there,” he said. “Defense lawyers are counter-punchers.”

Both defendants have lengthy criminal records. McDonald pleaded guilty to attempted murder in connection with an incident that occurred in 1984, when he was 20.

Prosecutors intend to introduce evidence at trial of the defendants’ past drug-related convictions — Seabury’s convictions in Mobile for possession of methamphetamine in 2003 and 2006; as well as McDonald’s conviction for possession with intent to distribute marijuana in Louisiana’s St. Martin Parish in 1993.

Seabury’s lawyer, Assistant Federal Defender Latisha Colvin, has asked U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose to prohibit prosecutors from introducing evidence about her client’s prior drug convictions on grounds that is designed to improperly impugn his character and would prejudice the jury.